Conversion (Acts 9:5)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/27/2017 10:44 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                          Focus:  Conversion

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                             Reference:  Acts 9:5

            Message of the verses:  “5 And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" And He said, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,”

            In today’s SD we are looking at the second sub-point under the main point of “Faith in the Savior,” and there are two more sub-points to look at and I will plan on looking at the last two in our next SD as one of them is very short.

            Paul is asking a question here that in the back of his mind he probably fears that he knows the answer to.  I have to believe that he is fearful that the answer to the question that he is asking is that it is Jesus who is shinning brighter than the sun and who is talking to him at this time, and that would make him fearful enough to think that he might die very soon.  His fear came into reality when he hears the Lord say “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.”  Think about that statement for a while in light of what is going on in our world today as many are making the supreme sacrifice of dying for the cause of Christ, and the people who are killing them and persecuting them are doing this to Jesus just as He tells Saul this in this verse.  In my reading of the Bible this morning I went through three chapters in the book of Revelation and in Revelation 14:13 I read the following “And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, "Write, ’Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!’" "Yes," says the Spirit, "so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.’”  I realize that this verse speaks of those who will die during the tribulation period, but I believe the principle of this verse can be seen for those who die each day for the cause of Christ as they may rest from their labors and the deeds that they did for the cause of Christ will follow them into heaven where I believe they will receive jewels in their crown that they will be able to place as the Saviors’ feet one day in heaven. 

            I don’t believe Paul is thinking about any of that at this time, although he may have been thinking about Stephen who in his dying breath gave witness to the truth of the gospel to Saul and all who were there, and this may be what Paul was thinking about and this may be why fear griped his soul at this time.  Paul knew what the Christians believed in, the message that they told to others, and yet he rejected it and believed that what they believed in was false, but now I suppose second thoughts were running through his mind.  We read the following in Acts 26:14 where the Lord was reminding Paul of this day we are looking at in our verse for today:  “"And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, ’Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’”  A goad was a sharp pointed stick to keep an animal moving.  John MacArthur writes “Saul’s resistance was crushed at that moment and his heart, broken by repentance, was healed by faith.  Philippians 3:4-11 describes the mental change that occurred in his soul at this moment:

 ‘4 …although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: 5 circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; 6  as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. 7 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8  More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,  9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10  that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 11  in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.’

            “Some have foolishly attempted to explain awaqy Saul’s experience as the result of an epileptic seizure.  That explanation is inadequate, even granting the dubious assumption that Saul was an epileptic.  No such seizure could account for the complete about-face Saul’s life took.  Nor does it account for the fact that Saul’s traveling companions saw the light and heard the voice.  For the rest of his life Saul offered only one explanation—he had in fact seen the risen, glorified Lord Jesus Christ.

            “This miraculous conversion, without human involvement at its occurrence, is an example of the extent and power of saving, sovereign grace.  Paul testifies to that grace in 1 Timothy 1:13-17:

‘13 …even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; 14 and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. 15 It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. 16 Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life. 17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.’”

            In the verses we looked at this morning we saw what can be stated is love and mercy, the same thing that God bestows on those who He saves.  Not all people have the past that Saul had, but all people who are born are born sinners.  I have mentioned before something that I wrote in a Bible that I bought many years ago that speaks about mankind, and the shape we are all born into:  “Total Depravity:  Not that we are as bad as we could be, but we are as bad off as we can be.”  That is the shape of every person who was born into this world with the exception of Jesus Christ, and this means that we all need what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross as He became our substitute in dying for our sins.  Jesus Christ did not became a sinner when He died on the cross, but He did become sin for us that we might have His righteousness once we except what He did for us.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am thankful that the Lord called me to salvation almost 44 years ago, and desire to tell others of what He did for me.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to trust the Lord as I prepare my lesson for this Sunday, that it will bring glory to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Memory verses:  Psalm 143:10 and Philippians 4:8 “10 Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”  “8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “He would be ruler over ten cities” (Luke 19:16-17).

Today’s Bible question:  “What statement did Jesus make to Simon Peter when he called him?”

Answer in our next SD.

12/27/2017 11:29 AM